Bitten by a dog (DOG BITE PHOTO)

[LongIslandPiney]

It was my 1st time bitten by a loose dog, happened last week right here in my town on my way to the post office. I was walking along when this dog jumped on me from a house, bit my box and my wrist, then walked away.
I didn't need to go to the hospital, but in those 15 min it took for the cops to come I was scared the dog would come back.
Fortunately when they captured the dog (animal control) the dog has had all it's shots, but, it has attacked other people in the past. And its a pit bull. So if the dog has bitten before why is it still allowed with it's owner?
I'm thinking of suing the town.
I had to go to the doctor and am on antibiotics. Here's a photo of my wound, after the band aid the ambulance put on came off. Fortunately my doctor put a real bandage on it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/Btraindash/loosedogattack2.jpg

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I would imagine it will not be with its owners after this incident. I am betting the town has a policy or guideline about vicious dogs. Better talk to the local animal control to get the information on that dog and what the rules are before you hire a lawyer.

 

[LongIslandPiney]

I would imagine it will not be with its owners after this incident. I am betting the town has a policy or guideline about vicious dogs. Better talk to the local animal control to get the information on that dog and what the rules are before you hire a lawyer.

Well all I know is the guy from animal control said the dog had a record of biting people previously, and then it was still out and it bit me. He said they very rarely take the dogs away from the owner, because the town does not want to go through the legal expense. He acted like it will be back with it's owner yet again. I feel the town is neglegent in protecting the residents from vicious dogs. The village code says nothing about seizing dogs, the owners will just get fined between $200 and $500.
Its just another reason to leave this messed up town.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I agree that it is quite negligent to leave a known biting dog with its owners. It's even more negligent of the owners.
I will be interested to see what happens if you pursue this.

 

[Ben Ruset]

That was an incredibly gross, disturbing photo. Please don't surround pictures like that with IMG tags.

I changed to to URL tags so that if anybody wants to see your wound they have to click on it.

 

[BobNJ1979]

sorry for your dog incident LIP. that shouldn't happen to anyone. looks you had a nice puncture wound.. you said it bit you on your "box and wrist".. is your box your backside ?

 

[LongIslandPiney]

sorry for your dog incident LIP. that shouldn't happen to anyone. looks you had a nice puncture wound.. you said it bit you on your "box and wrist".. is your box your backside ?

No, it was a box I was delivering to the post office. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/Btraindash/loosedogattack4.jpg

 

[davensj]

I hate Pit Bulls. One ever comes in my yard it`s going to feel the bite of a 9mm HP.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I hate Pit Bulls. One ever comes in my yard it`s going to feel the bite of a 9mm HP.

Actually, they can be really lovely. They are not all vicious like that, my brother has one and you could do major abdominal surgery on him and he'd just lay there and lick your face. He would not hurt a fly, and, having worked with animals for my career and beyond, I can tell you that it is not the dog inherently, it is the people who raise them. There is some ridiculous macho stigma attached to having a mean dog. The people who owned this dog are incredibly irresponsible. There are too many good dogs dying every year in shelters to keep vicious dogs alive.

 

[Frolickin]

Interestingly, I was attacked a couple weeks ago by two dogs as soon as I got out of the truck for a short hike in the woods. These were boxers. Your wound is worse than what I had. Mind you, I fought back.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Some of the most lovey dogs I have met were pitbulls. A nasty pit bull is the product of their owner(s).

Batona, did you give the boxers a foot to their heads, or what?

 

[Frolickin]

That's exactly what I did . . . more like the mouth, apparently. One ended up rather bloody.

 

[MarkBNJ]

That's the thing to do. I've run into highly aggressive dogs on several occasions (never in the pines yet), and the last thing you want to do is show any level of intimidation. If they come at me I kick them in the head. I know a guy out in the midwest who works for the USPS, and he carries a leather-wrapped billy club that is small, but very dense and compact. He's had to use it several times, and hasn't yet found a dog that didn't rethink his approach once it made contact with cranium.

On the other hand, from what I've heard of pit bulls that have been trained to be mean, you can beat them into a pulp and they won't let go of you. Fortunately I have never run into one.

 

[LongIslandPiney]

Unfortunately I was carrying these boxes and didn't have enough time to react. If I didn't have the boxes I would've tried to fight back, but in my case it might have made the situation worse. I've come across loose dogs in the woods, usually it's just people running with their dogs unleashed. Dogs are NOT allowed in most preserves here (except pointer dogs for bird hunters), but I usually dont say anything about it. Usually the dogs just run around me, bark, and then run back to the owner. One day someone's lost pointer (he had an orange tracking device on him) followed me around, it was a small dog and wasn't aggressive and quite friendly, he was lost and scared and just wanted me to pet him and keep him company. I hung around and his owner finally came for him.
I used to be quite afraid of dogs but am much less so now, even after this incident.
As far as the dog that attacked me, I don't want it put down or anything like that, it should just be taken away and given to someone who can keep it leashed and train it not to be aggressive. Any dog can be trained to be aggressive, and it's a real problem, especially in my town (alot of macho men with something to prove I guess).

 

[Aaron]

This type of crap scares the hell outa me, when ever i go walking/hiking i have my 3 yr old son with me in a jogging stroller.( face level with a dog).

I usually carry a 5 lb cast iron weight, figure if i bring that down on a dogs head with both hands he is going to die, I usually also bring a spring assisted knife, and i think ill start brining oc spray and my sap gloves.

 

[MarkBNJ]

As far as the dog that attacked me, I don't want it put down or anything like that, it should just be taken away and given to someone who can keep it leashed and train it not to be aggressive. Any dog can be trained to be aggressive, and it's a real problem, especially in my town (alot of macho men with something to prove I guess).

I would put it down, to be honest. If it will do that to a grown man walking away from it, then it will attack a child with perhaps a much more serious outcome. There are programs for dangerous dogs, but not many, and it's probably not worth it in this guy's case.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

LIP, I love dogs very much, but this dog should definitely be euthanized and the owner fined harshly. Given that he attacked you without provocation, and the fact that this was not his first offense, he is a dangerous animal. Suppose you were a child?

As I said earlier, there are too many good dogs that die every day to keep vicious dogs alive.

 

[LongIslandPiney]

I guess you're right. But according to the village the dog will be released back to the owner April 28th! To bite again.
They can only keep it for 10 days. Like I said I want to sue the town and the owner for negligence but I dont have money for a lawyer, I'm trying to get in touch with legal aid.

 

[Ben Ruset]

If you had a case I am sure a lawyer would take it on contingency. They would get paid out of the money you receive as a settlement.

 

[LongIslandPiney]

Thanks, I'll try asking some lawyers about it.
The town I live in seems to do very little when it comes to aggressive dogs, just down the street a pit bull attacked a lab and the town didn't even take the dog away, because the dogs were in the same household. May be time for a lawsuit to get the town to do its job.